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St Helen's has a long sporting pedigree - it has staged rugby internationals - and is also probably the only first-class ground laid out on a reclaimed sandbank (in places the soil is barely 18 inches thick). That was leveled in 1873 and Swansea CC used the ground for the first time that year. In the early years of the 20th century grass banking was laid around the ground, and there was also the construction of decent seating and a perimeter wall. After the Great War, a new cricket pavilion was built and a rugby grandstand was erected along the Mumbles Road in the 1920's. Most of the additional work done at this time was for rugby, but the cricket benefited as well. In 1954 four floodlight pylons were erected in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the Welsh RFU to keep playing internationals on the ground - the last game was in that year. But Swansea grew as a force in the domestic game and their success prompted ongoing development through to the present day.

Glamorgan used the ground before they became a first-class county in 1921 and have continued to do so ever since. The venue has seen some remarkable games. In 1951 the South Africans were skittled when set for victory, and in 1968 Garry Sobers smashed a record six sixes off one over from the hapless Malcolm Nash - nine years later Lancashire's Frank Hayes took 34 off an over from the same bowler! In 1948 more than 50,000 watched the match against the Australians, and attendances have always been good.

In 1973 England played an ODI against New Zealand, and ten years later Pakistan took on Sri Lanka in the World Cup. With floodlights in place, Glamorgan have used the ground for day-night matches against a Rest of the World XI and it is not inconceivable that St Helen's might yet be awarded another ODI.
Martin Williamson